Joshua Lionel Cowen

Lore & Background

Joshua Lionel Cowen was born Joshua Lionel Cohen in Manhattan, New York City on August 25, 1877, to Jewish immigrants from Germany. He built his first toy train at age seven, attaching a small steam engine to a carved wooden locomotive, which exploded and damaged his parents' kitchen. He attended City College of New York but left before graduating.

Cowen received his first patent in 1899 for a device that ignited a photographer's flash, and around 1900-1901 he secured a U.S. Navy defense contract for mine fuses (the exact amount is not reliably documented). In 1900, he and associate Harry C. Grant founded the Lionel Corporation in New York City. Sources disagree on the inspiration: The New York Times reported he devised a battery-powered fan and connected its motor to a model train, while The Record (Hackensack, New Jersey) stated he designed his train after seeing a stationary model in a department store window. A Manhattan shopkeeper bought Cowen's first electric train in 1901 for a storefront display, and after customers wanted to buy it, ordered six more.

In 1910, Cowen legally changed his surname from Cohen to avoid anti-semitism, and often gave his birthdate as 1880, though his birth was recorded three years earlier. After World War I, Lionel became one of the top three U.S. electric train manufacturers, competing with American Flyer and Louis Marx and Company. By the early 1950s, Lionel had become the world's largest toy manufacturer, but interest in model trains declined postwar due to the decline in passenger travel, rise of automobiles, and development of the space program. Cowen retired in 1959, and the details of his stock sale are often misrepresented. He died on September 8, 1965, in Palm Beach, Florida, and is interred at Union Field Cemetery in Ridgewood, Queens.

Reader's Guide

Joshua Lionel Cowen's significance lies in his role as cofounder of the Lionel Corporation, which became a dominant force in the toy train industry before and after World War II. His early invention of a battery-powered train display, which unexpectedly sparked consumer demand, led to mass production and established Lionel as a household name. By the early 1950s, the company was the world's largest toy manufacturer, reflecting Cowen's impact on American childhood and leisure. However, the decline of passenger rail travel and the rise of automobiles and space exploration reduced interest in model trains, leading to the company's financial struggles. Cowen's legacy endures through the enduring popularity of Lionel trains among collectors and hobbyists, and his story illustrates the intersection of innovation, entrepreneurship, and cultural shifts in mid-20th-century America.

Did You Know?

• Cowen built his first toy train at age seven, but the steam engine exploded and damaged his parents' kitchen.
• In 1910, he legally changed his surname from Cohen to Cowen to avoid anti-semitism.
• He retired in 1959, but the story that he sold his 55,000 shares to Roy Cohn is incorrect—Cohn was not his grand-nephew.